Josh

I grew up in a Christian family and when I was in Kindergarten, I accepted Jesus for the first time.  Now that did not mean that I was magically perfect.  In fact, I was never very well behaved as a child.  I sinned all of the time.

            Growing closer to God was never a priority for me.  My thought process was that I was still young, and if I changed my life for God, I wouldn’t be able to have fun anymore.  I would wait until I got older, and then I would start to get serious about growing closer to God. 

            The result was a very hard spiritual childhood, but through it, I have been able to grow closer to God.

            I remember that I used to feel worthless.  I felt like my life had no meaning, and God must have made a mistake when he made me.  But God loved me, and even in those times, he was watching out for me. 

Later in my life, I started having major doubts.  I didn’t know how God could possibly exist, and I felt like if he did, he wasn’t answering my prayers.  I just needed to have more faith and I realized that God was there, and He was watching out for me. 

Actually, I have grown closest to God in the last 2-3 years.  That was when I decided to stop trying to solve my problems on my own, and let God handle it.  I have been able to grow spiritually in many ways.  The past year, I went to a gather called Youth Convention, where we spent a few days in worship and sermons.  It helped me to learn more about God, and I also reached a new level of worship. 

Right now, I am on a missions trip with 12 people and I am growing closer to God than I have ever have in my entire life.  My prayer life is growing stronger than ever, and I have been growing in my faith and been finding it easier to share my faith with others.  I am so glad that I am growing spiritually, and hope that I get even further in my walk with God.
            -Josh McElwee